Aerial bomb



July 1933- G. H. HEDRICK 1,917,263

AERIAL BOMB I Filed Aug. 29, 1952 INVENTOR Patented July 11, 1933 GALE H. HEDRICK, OF GLEN'SHAW, EENNSYLVANIA AERIAL BOMB Application filed August 29, 1932. Serial No. 630,771.

This invention relates to improvements in aerial bombs and more particularly to bombs for use in target practice by naval and militar planes.

arget bombs for practice purposes are commonly constructed of hollow sheet metal casings approximating in size and proportion the regular explosive bombs. The cylindrical casing is provided with a nose piece and a tail piece, the latter having vanes for directing the flight of the bomb when it is released from a plane.

Naval planes have filled these hollow bombs with water as the most convenient means of loading or weighting them, and for this purpose the bombs are provided with a filler cap near the nose piece. When the loaded bomb is dropped from a plane at a target the splash caused by the bomb striking the water will indicate the spot where it sinks.

Practice bombs for land operation is a different matter inasmuch as the shell loaded with water would not be visible to the aviator or marksman after the bomb strikes the ground, and for this reason', the practice bombs for land maneuvers have been filled with sand and charged with several pounds of black powder so that when the bomb strikes, suflicient smoke is released to I visibly indicate the location of impact.

It is found that the use of black powder and sand is not only inconvenient for charging, but also dangerous as the burning of the powder causes fire and is otherwise harmful.

In accordance with the present invention, the practice bombs for land operations may be charged with water the same as those used for practice at sea. Water is themore accessible load or ballast and canbe most convenientlycharged into the casing of the bomb. To produce a visible signal, the bomb is designed to carry a fragile container or other breakable element in the tail piece which is charged with a chemical such as titanium tetrachloride which releases a dense smoke,

and the present invention has to do with the 1 manner of mounting the fragile container in the tail piece so that it will be shattered by impact when the bomb strikes the ground. Another provision of the invention is the means of preventing the charge of water in the bomb housing from washing out the chemical, and these and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the accompanying drawing constituting a part hereof in which like reference characters designate like parts and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an aerial target bomb embodying the principles 0 of this invention;

Figure 2 an end elevational view of a bracket member mounted in the vanes of the tail piece;

Figure 3 a side elevation partially in section of the tail piece;

Figure 4 an end elevational view of the bomb as viewed from the tail piece; and,

Figure 5 side elevation of the bracket for holding the fragile smoke'releasing container. 7

The reference character 1 designates a cylindrical housing constructed of relatively light gage sheet metal having a nose piece 2 and a tail piece generally designated by the reference numeral 3. A filler cap 4; is provided through which water is charged into. the housing to weight the bomb.

The tail piece may be designated as a tail cone having the tail head 5 and tail vanes 6. The tail piece and nose piece are secured to g the body 1 by what is commonly termed seam welding or in any other suitable manner which constitutes no part of this invention.

Mounted in the tail vanes 6 is a bracket structure generally designated by the refer- 85 ence numeral 7 which is more clearly shown in the remaining figures of the drawing, particularly Figure 5. The bracket comprises sheet metal straps 8 which are joined by an- .nular straps 9, the straps 8 being bent over or flanged at 10 to fit over the vanes 6 to which they are secured by welding.

The ends of the straps adjacent the housing are bent at right angles as shown at 11 to constitute end abutments for a fragile container such as the bottle 12, and straps 13 are provided with extended ends 14 which are bent down to hold the bottle in place after it is inserted in the bracket.

One of the important features of the tail 1% piece construction is the employment of a bafie plate 15 which is located between the tail head and the end of the tail cone. The

bafile 15 is fastened in the tail cone by weld- '5 ing along its eripheral edge 16, and the object of the ba e is to prevent the charge of the water in the body 1 from escaping at the tail end of the bomb particularly when the bomb is broken by impact with the ground.

The bottle 12 may be filled with a smoke producing chemical such as titanium tetrachloride and is' charged into the bracket 8 when the bomb, is ready to be placed in the bombing plane.

The function of the above described bomb is as follows:

The body 1 is charged with water through the filler cap 4 filling the body from the nose to the tail head 5 leaving an air space between the head 5 and bafiie 15. As previously explained, the water is confined between the nose 2 and the tail head 5, and the fragile container 12 containing the smoke producing medium is mounted in the bracket 8 with the clips 14 bent over to hold it in place.

When the bomb is released from the plane it will drop, and when it strikes the ground the body of the bomb will be destroyed by impact and the fragile'container 12 will push out the retaining abutmentsll and be'forced against the shoulder 17 of the tail cone causing the bottle to break. The bottle, when broken, releases the chemical to produce a dense and readily visible smoke which indicates to the observer in the plane the exact location at which the bomb struck.

By employing the baflle 15, the water in the bomb is preventedfrom washing .out the chemical as the fragile container is broken. It is, of course, evident that containers other than glass bottles maybe employed so long by impact of'the bomb as it strikes its object,-but the principal feature of the invention is the location of the smoke producing medium in the tail piece of the bomb and out side of the bomb body whereby water may be employed for loading'the bomb, and the least amount of damage can result from impact of the bomb with buildings br other obects; f

Although one embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications maybe made in the details of construction without departing from the principles herein .set forth.

housing having a roun I claim as m invention: Q 1. A target omb comprising a housing having a tail piece at one end thereof and means embodied in the tail piece for mounting a fragile container, said means comprising a bracket adapted to hold the container and to release the same, upon impact of the bomb, in such manner that the container will be broken.

2. A target bomb for aeroplane use comprising a sheet metal housing adapted to be charged with water to load the same and having a tail piece provided with vanes, means in saidtail piece for mounting a fragile container for a smoke producing medium, said means being adapted to securely hold said container in place and to act upon impact of the bomb to release said container whereby it is broken and its contents released.

' 3. An aerial bomb comprising a housing adapted to be charged with water having a bafiie plate at the tail end thereof, and having a tail piece provided with vanes, said vanes having a bracket disposed therein compraising a plurality of straps having their ends nt to constitute abutments for supporting a container and having other'of its ends bent to eng e the vanes of the tail piece, and said straps ing adapted upon impact of the bomb to straightenthereby releasing the container in the direction of the tail cone whereby the container is broken-by impact. 4. An aerial bomb com rising a cylindrical nose piece and a conical tail-piece, a baflie disposed in said tail piece near the end thereof, and vanes secured to said tail piece, a mounting bracket in said vanes adapted to receive and hold a fragile container, said bracket being adapted upon impact of the bomb to releasesaidcon; as they are sufliclently fragile to be broken tainer whereby it is-forced against the end of the conical tail piece to break the same.

5. An aerial bomb for target practice com- ,prising a hollow body adapted to be charged 1 with a liquid, a tail cone secured to one end thereof, vanes on 'said tail piece, means in said tail piece for mounting a' fragile container, and a baflie'wall disposed between saidbody and container to prevent the liq-, I

uid charge of the body from covering said container upon impact of the bomb. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. I GALE H. HEDRICK. 

